Fredonia Rotary names Students of the Month

April 22, 2012

Deanna Civilette and Hannah Gilray have been named Fredonia Rotary Students of the Month for March.

Gilray is a senior at Fredonia High School graduating June 2012 with an Advanced Regents Diploma and in the top 20 percent of her class. She is the daughter of Peter and Anne Gilray. She has been awarded the Principal's Award every quarter of her high school career. While at Fredonia, Gilray has had the opportunity to take these college level courses: AP Psychology. AP Statistics and JCC Spanish, as well as Advanced English and Global Studies.

Athletics have been a huge part of her life. Gilray started playing soccer when she was 5 years old and it has always been her favorite sport. She played JV Soccer in seventh and eighth grade and was the captain of the team in eighth grade. She was on the Varsity soccer team all four years of high school. During her senior year she was the captain of the Varsity soccer team and won the WDOE Leadership Award. Gilray made the Chautauqua County All Star Honorable Mention her junior and senior years. She also continued to play soccer in the spring and summer months in Travel League, with The Premier Soccer team and with the Black Watch Soccer team. During the winter months, she participated in the indoor high school soccer league at the Lakewood YMCA every week for five years.

Article Photos

Hannah Gilray

Deanna Civilette

Basketball has also been a big part of Gilray's life. She played basketball in middle school and high school, playing Modified, JV and Varsity, as well as summer league, tournaments and Gus Macker every summer. She won the Coaches Award her Senior Year. She also participated in track and field for three years and won the Track Team's "Most Improved Player" Award two years in a row. Every summer for the past four years she has attended the "Shoot the Lights Out" basketball camp at Fredonia State and overnight soccer camps at Houghton College and Edinboro University.

Outside of sports, Gilray has been a member of the High School Key Club for four years, participating in events such as the Beach Sweep and the Christmas Charity Drive. She has held various part time summer jobs, being a bus person at Tri-County Country Club, working for the Fredonia Recreation Department as basketball referee and being a summer soccer referee for NCSA summer soccer league. During spring break, Gilray traveled to Greece and Italy with the high school's EF Tour Group. In her spare time, she just like to relax with family and friends and go to the gym.

Next year, Gilray plans to attend Alfred State College to get her degree in Marketing Brand Management and she will also be playing soccer for the Alfred State Women's Soccer team.

Civilette is the daughter of David Civilette and Kathryn Sage. She is currently a senior at Fredonia High School who has been on the Honor Roll and has received the Principals Award throughout high school. Civilette is participating in the 3-1-3 program at Fredonia State and loving every second of it. She has become more confident and is looking forward to the years that lie ahead.

Civilette has been part of the soccer team and indoor track for two years and cross-country team for four years. She is currently vice president of Student Council and has also participated in yearbook, musicals, chorus and orchestra.

One of her greatest passions in the world is music. Civilette has played the violin for eight years, been concert master of her orchestra for three years, participated in NYYSMA (solo competition) since seventh grade, Area All-State, Advanced Music Performance Program, received the Directors Award. Civilette is also part of a string quartet that plays at weddings, gatherings and other events. She has been a member of chorus for eight years and has been a member of Madrigals, a selected choir group, for two years. Civilette has been self-taught on guitar and studied piano for five years. She has participated in three musicals throughout her high school years, the most recent being "Fiddler on the Roof."

Composing is what Civilette loves to do the most. She took composition lessons under Dr. Deemer at SUNY Fredonia. She sings at open mic nights and in Applebee's Idol. The Music Is Art Organization (MIA) has allowed her to perform her original compositions at different events like at Festivals in Buffalo and at HSBC Arena for the Battle of the Bands.

Civilette has volunteered at the Lions Club stand at the Chautauqua County fair for the past few summers, coached recreational soccer, made placemats and cards for Meals on Wheels, sang National Anthem at high school events, performed music at the Literacy Cafe, went Christmas caroling at retirement homes and rang bells for the FHS Key Club during the Christmas season.

Civilette's ultimate goal in life is to write a musical. It may take a while, but she hopes her goal will turn into an accomplishment. After she graduates from Fredonia High School, she will be attending SUNY Fredonia in the fall. She has been accepted into the School of Music at Fredonia and will be majoring in composition.